The newest expansion forFinal Fantasy 14,Dawntrail, is almost here, bringing with itnew dungeons to explore, character jobs to master, and weapons and equipment to collect. Between all the new updates, finding a single place to start can be a task in itself, and with a new level cap placed at level 100, players trying to reach the endgame as fast as possible will have their work cut out for them.
Those looking to dive in as soon asDawntrail’s early access period starts on June 28th can ensure their experience is as smooth as possible by preparing a variety of items and tasks ahead of time. Whether it’spicking up the new Viperor Pictomancer jobs, or racing your main to level 100, these tips will get you started on the right track.
Stockpile Experience Buffs
Players can expedite their path to the new level 100 maximum byobtaining a variety of experience buffsahead ofDawntrail’s launch. The three main categories of experience buffs to look out for are:
Food items granting the Well-fed buff can be easily obtained from a variety of vendors, as well as other players via the market board, or crafted by players who have leveled their Culinarian crafting job. Rested experience, however, cannot be purchased, and must instead be accrued over time by logging out within a sanctuary. The maximum amount of rested experience a character can accrue is one whole level’s worth, obtained after seven days of resting. Finally, the Heat of Battle series of Free Company buffs can be purchased by members of a Free Company who have been granted permission to purchase company actions. These company actions can be purchased from the OIC Quatermasters located at each Grand Company’s headquarters, with Heat of Battle I costing 3,010 company credits and Heat of Battle II costing 6020 company credits. Heat of Battle III cannot be purchased and must instead be crafted with a Free Company’s company workshop before charging in an Aetherial Wheel Stand for 70 hours. Players who have unlocked and leveled their company squadron can obtain a personalized version of the Heat of Battle III buff lasting two hours by completing missions granting the Squadron Battle Manual item.
Prepare Gear Sets for Viper and Pictomancer
Releasing with theDawntrailexpansion are two new jobs, the Viper and Pictomancer. While these jobs are newly introduced, players unlocking them will start out at level 80 rather than level 1. As such, preparing a full set of level 80 gear for Viper and Pictomancer ahead of their release will give players looking to try them out a healthy head start.
The best armor set available to level 80 characters is the Augmented Cryptlurker set which can be purchased with Allagan Tomestones of Poetics from either Aymark in Eulmore (X:10, Y:12), or Mowen’s Merchant in The Crystarium (X:10, Y:12). The Viper uses the Scouting series of equipment, while the Pictomancer uses the Casting series of equipment. In order to purchase a full set of armour and accessories for one job, 3455 Allagan Tomestones of Poetics are required, as well as an additional 600 poetic tomestones to purchase a weapon when they release inDawntrail.
Clean Up Your Inventory
With every expansion release comes a plethora of new items, from new weapons and equipment, to new consumable items, to new crafting materials, and having a full inventory can significantly slow down a player’s progress as they stop to think about which items to throw away in order to make room for new quest rewards and item drops. Cleaning an inventory out ahead of time, including players' chocobo saddlebags andretainer inventories, can also be a good way to make some extra gil by selling items to other players before they’re rendered obsolete by new upgrades in the upcoming expansion.
Some good examples of items to sell or toss out arelower grade materiathat have been rendered obsolete, excess food items and potions that will receive new upgraded versions, or old crafting materials that aren’t likely to be used in newer recipes. Additionally, gear that players have leveled beyond and no longer have a use for can beplaced inside the glamour dresserto save on inventory space while saving the equipment’s appearance for cosmetic purposes.
Prepare Weekly and Daily Turn-ins
Dawntrail’s early access window gives players a unique opportunity to take advantage ofFinal Fantasy 14’s weekly and daily reset timers. While early access begins on Friday, June 28, weekly activities don’t reset until the following Tuesday, allowing players to work on weekly objectives as early as June 25 and wait untilDawntrailreleases to complete them. Additionally, early access starts at 2:00 AM PDT, beginning ahead of the game’s daily reset which doesn’t occur until 8:00 AM PDT. This gives players a window of opportunity to hand in daily quests from June 27th afterDawntrail’s release on the 28th. Some key weekly and daily objectives to consider preparing in advance are:
Save Up Allagan Tomestones
As is tradition with each expansion, the current series of Allagan Tomestones used asendgame currency will become obsoletewith the release ofDawntrail. However, that doesn’t mean there’s no reason to obtain a healthy supply of them before the update lands. All Allagan Tomestones of Causality and Allagan Tomestones of Comedy will be able to be exchanged for Allagan Tomestones of Poetics onceDawntrailreleases, a currency used to purchase rewards that are part of the endgame of previous expansions. While players are normally restricted to holding a maximum of 2,000 Allagan Tomestones of Poetics at a time, saving up Causality and Comedy tomestones will allow players to redeem additional Poetics tomestones as soon as the new expansion launches, effectively increasing the maximum capacity.
